That's awesome. Well done.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
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That's awesome. Well done.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Did a brick on Saturday and went mountain biking on Sunday.
Sunday's ride was very short - just 5.75 miles with 1,000 feet of climbing and descending. Yep, it goes up for just over 2.7 miles and then we turn around and go back down. It's possible to do it as a loop, but we actually prefer it this way - get the best climbing and the best descending. :D
Switched my upper body workout to Mondays this week - a lot of core work today, including ab roll outs. I'll feel those tomorrow.
Just three weeks of school left. I've got my dog and pony show presentation for the math grant I've been participating in on Thursday. Bought a new dress for it yesterday. :p
Veronica
I hope it's cut appropriately. You know, to show off your guns. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wahine
This is what I got.
http://images.titlenine.com/images//...m/165202_z.jpg
I don't think the picture is great and on the rack it looked so busy. But it's really cute on and totally different from my regular wardrobe. Most of my stuff is separates and solid colors. And yeah... the shoulders and biceps look really good. :D
Veronica
That's Prana. I love their prints. Super cute!
And I'm relieved to see that TE doesn't sell this particular one. :D
I've never really been a "print" person. I feel like I look like curtains or my grandmother in them, so a huge leap for me.
I tried on this dress in a really pretty green
http://gg1.teamestrogen.com/ri/300/3...-58729-ALL.jpg
It looked great from the front - really showed off the abs. :p But I have too much back muscle and it was pulling across my back in a size medium and a large was too large.
Veronica
Presentation was a huge success; the dress looked great - got lots of compliments. My favorite, " Mrs. D. you look very nice in that dress." from my student who makes robot sounds in class and pretends to be flying airplanes with his pencils. If you watch Modern Family, he's like both Luke and Manny, depending on his mood.
My hip has been bugging me a little this week - icing and lots of yoga.
Just ten more days of school. I'm really going to miss this group of kids, but I'm ready for a break.
Veronica
Aww, how sweet. ;) Way to bring him back to reality for a minute!Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Next race is a week from today. I was looking at my past results, from my first year of racing, and looking at the race organizer's website. I learned that my race is a qualifier for Nationals - top 1/3 in each age group automatically qualify. It would be cool to qualify, but I don't think I will. :rolleyes: I wonder if that means the race will have more entrants than previously. IT DOES NOT MATTER. My only goals are to swim easy, bike easy and enjoy the run. It would be nice to be faster than when I weighed ten pounds more, but even that, doesn't really matter.
Veronica
Stress, stress stress...
The school district went all fancy this year and we do our report cards online. But they didn't bother to update our work computers or our Internet connection. It takes me twice as long to enter all my grades at work as it does from my home computer. And it's even slower if more a few teachers are working on it at the same time.
But the system developed a bug this weekend, so I couldn't get them done, like I had planned. Now I need to find a couple of extra hours in my schedule to get these done - assuming they get the bug fixed.
Guess I won't be swimming this week.
Veronica
I feel your pain, but such is the life of a teacher. Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility. It'll all be over soon. This is my 2nd week on summer vacation... I'm SO glad it's here!Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Report card program was fixed late Tuesday and I finished mine up yesterday. Whew...I really dislike administrative tasks and don't like having them hanging over me.
I also discovered I misread the website for my next event; it's not a national qualifier. One of their other events is which means I don't have to worry about being in anyone's way on the run on Sunday. :cool: Yeah, I was worried about that. I think my swim and bike times would put me in the top third, the run not so much. It's not a goal or even a dream of mine to qualify for Nationals, but I would hate to be in someone's way who had a shot and part of the run is on single track. Stupid thing to worry about probably, but I was anyway.
I don't know what it is about Wednesdays, but I often need a nap Wednesday afternoons. Yesterday was one of those days. A two hour nap and eight hours of sleep, now I feel good. Or maybe that's the endorphins - had a great 4 mile run this morning. Yes!!! An early morning run with no wheezing and no tummy upset. It wasn't a PR or anything - just felt good and was fun.
Veronica
Tough workout with Shawna this morning. I was (am still) very tired from my race yesterday.
Today's fun exercise - feet in the TRX stirrups, hands on a Bosu ball, round side down. Pull feet in and then back out, followed by a push up - 15 reps.
We ended the day with 10/20 repeated 3 times, no rest - 10 V ups, 20 Russian twists.
How soon until I can nap?
Veronica
I am just about recovered from Sunday's race. The muscles in my feet and my ankles have really been sore. Yes, it's the muscles. They ran 6.2 miles on almost all gravel and single track, which my feet are not very familiar with. Poor Thom has been stuck with my feet in his lap while we watch the Dauphine coverage. :D The massage really makes them feel better.
Today is the last day of school. I managed to not cry at our promotion ceremony yesterday. A couple of my kids cried and a lot of parents were teary, including our principal.
I have a week to train and then we're off to mountain bike Telluride to Moab. I'm a little nervous about so much riding at elevation - 8,000 - 10,000 feet most days. But I know how to moderate my effort and it will make me look at the scenery. :p
Veronica
The Telluride trip was awesome. Pictures are here. It was some of the hardest riding I have ever done. Every day I just worked at staying in a zone where I could ride. I think it turned out to be some pretty good training. :D I know I came home with some wicked huge calf muscles.
It took a few days for me to recover from the trip. I found myself napping for a couple of hours both Monday and Tuesday. But by Wednesday I seemed to be back to normal. My workout with Shawna on Wednesday was just awesome, lots of plyometrics. My favorite exercise being hold on to two 12 dumb bells and jump up onto a bench 15 times. I kept focusing on how quietly I could land. :D
Thursday, Friday and Saturday (today) were run days. Thursday's run was hard since I had not run in 2 weeks. Friday felt better, of course it was shorter and not as hilly. Today I went out for 8.5 miles and it was perfect! I just got into the zone where I felt like I could just keep going. It wasn't fast, but you know if I could run that pace for my entire HIM in 4 weeks, I'd be thrilled.
Shawna is heading off to Alaska with her dad for two weeks, so no trainer sessions. I've got a week and then we're heading to Maine. While there I plan to get in an ocean swim and run the course of our race in August. Not sure yet if we'll bike or drive the bike course. My sister lives on a small pond so maybe I'll work on my open water skills a bit.
4 weeks until Barb's Race. I don't feel ready. That's nothing new; I've never felt ready. :rolleyes:
Veronica
Maine trip was great. I ran three times, including part of the course for Rev 3 Maine. It's a fairly flat run course with a section on the Eastern Trail through Scarborough Marsh. OY!!!! Running through the section of marsh was like running through a sauna! It's a good thing it's flat, because there is no way I want to walk through the section.
We biked about 45 miles of the bike course, picked up some pretty decent rental bikes at Gorham Bike and Ski in Saco. Oddly, they don't have a Gorham location. :p None of the climbs are very long, a few are fairly steep. Thom is doing this part of the relay and I expect he'll have a pretty good time. We averaged 16.5 mph without pushing ourselves and with me sightseeing along my old school bus route.
I had my first trainer session with Shawna in two weeks today. I expect I'll be a little sore tomorrow. My first set included Burpees and push ups, just ten of each, not bad. But the second round I had to do twenty and you guessed it. The third round was 30. :D Burpees are worse than push ups!
My HIM is less than 2 weeks away. I really need to go swim...
Veronica
Good luck V. I'm looking forward to hearing how the race goes.
It's not a good idea to let your mind wander when doing squats... Last round, 2nd of 15 reps... don't know what I did... leaned forward maybe. All I know is I had a sudden sharp pain to my lower back. That was Wed. Lots of icing and advil. No bike ride Wed., no run Thurs., no swim today.
It's feeling better, more like I just overworked it now. I still feel it when I bend over to scoop up a cat though. I had been planning on a 9 mile run tomorrow, one final pacing sort of run. Maybe I'll run tomorrow, maybe I won't. But I don't think it will be nine miles. It was more of mental thing, no fitness to be gained for the race at this point.
I hadn't planned on a taper, since I never really ramped up my training. It's going to be an interesting race. No matter what, I am having fun next Saturday. I may post the worst time ever, but I'm not going to stress this year. :D It would be ironic if I posted my best time. But I'm not going there.
One bright note - I'm not the last wave! My age group is HUGE. We're all by ourselves. The 40 - 44s are going with with the 55+ after us. I hate being the last wave, so many people to pass. They all pass me later on the run... :rolleyes: But at least they can see where they're going and they don't run into the butts of people who are walking. It's impossible to see wetsuit covered legs that are walking. :p
Veronica
V - I'm sorry that happened. That sucks.
Well I guess you're on a taper now. I'm glad you're not stressing about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Sorry to read that Veronica, but glad to hear it seems to be resolving. Have fun next weekend and looking forward to reading about it!
Here's the website for tracking me on race day. If it works. :D I'm number 2137.
My back is much better. I had a good workout with Shawna this morning. She's going easy on me this week.
I do believe I could PR this race - not a huge OMG PR. But being the geek I am, I've analyzed all 4 of my past results.
Swim times have ranged from 34 - 41 minutes. My goal this year is 40 minutes. Last year was 37.
Bike times have been 3:18 - 3:37 - goal 3:30. Last year was 3:28.
Run - my fastest time was 2:50. Last year was 2:54. This year I want a 2:44. That's a 12:30 average pace. I've been running my long runs at just under 11:30. But I've done almost no brick work this year. Plus there are some good size hills. My mantra is going to be, "Shuffle." Not an actual shuffle mind you, but a slow paced run.
Transition - last year I spent 12 minutes in transition and that's what I'm targeting this year. I've started wearing a bike jersey and arm coolers to avoid sunburn. It's probably a little late to start worrying about my skin. But happily, I did not burn at all last summer. :D So it's worth it to take the extra time in T-1.
Last year they changed the run in and out of T-2. Both are much longer with run in being on a concrete sidewalk. I didn't like running it in my bike shoes and walked it last year. I was 7 minutes in T-2 last year. If they've changed it back - I'll be a little quicker.
Add it all up, you get a 7:06. That's a PR by 3 minutes. Yeah, I'd like that sub 7 hours. I could get it by swimming and biking faster. But a better run would make me very happy.
Weather currently looks good with a projected high of 82.
Veronica
Enjoy the day, Veronica! You've worked really hard to get here, and I'm sure you will be successful. :)
Yay!! It's almost here. I'll be cheering for you.:)
Final countdown! Very cool!
It was good. Report and pictures are here.
Veronica
Recovery Week - Had a trainer session with Shawna yesterday, lots of core work and 160 push ups, done in sets of 20 mixed in with other things.
Easy run this morning, legs felt like lead and my left calf kept cramping up. I've been spending a lot of time on the couch watching the Olympics or napping with the cats. :D
Veronica
Thinking about next year - Half Aquabike has a lot of appeal. It would be nice to focus more on my swim and to just lay it all out on the bike - something I've never done because of that 13 mile run. :rolleyes:
The thing is - after 5 years, I actually enjoy running. I suck at it, but I like it. I'm kinda leaning towards more sprints and Olympic distance events and the Half Aquabike. It seems like a good combination.
I've got two more races this year and I'm already thinking about next year. Geez.... :rolleyes:
Veronica
Hi Veronica,
Nice report - thanks for sharing and congrats. I envy your ability to barely swim train and still do 42 minutes, my HIM time is about 55 minutes an I swim 3x per week.
Interested to see what you think of REV 3 Maine. Thinking of doing that race next year. I have heard good things about there races.
Sharon
Thanks - I wish I could run like you! :D
Check out the medal for Rev3 Maine. It's kinda cool.
http://rev3tri.com/wp-content/themes...160&h=160&zc=1
I don't have any Finisher's Medals quite like that. :D
Veronica
I think you need one :cool: :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Very cool - think I will need to add that one to my collection (next year).
Have fun!
My next event I'm only swimming and running. We're borrowing the in laws RV and I even get to shower in between.
I saw this and decided, if I can't be fast, I might as well be cute.
http://images.teamestrogen.com/ri/30...0473-513-a.jpg
Veronica
I like it! It's very cute.
It gets even better. I decided to add a skort, 'cause I can.
http://gg1.teamestrogen.com/ri/300/3...K-1017-062.jpg
I am a girly girl at times. :p
I just hope I like running in a skort. I'm going to test it out next weekend.
Veronica
I think running skorts are great. I've not run in one but I always think they look fantastic.
Great Race Veronica - I have a lot of respect for people who do open water swim. I just don't have it in me! This one looked great though as there were people standing up in the water (I actually might be comfortable enough to do a race like that!:D)
Oh, the shirt and skort are wonderful. Have fun!
Yeah, the water was very shallow in lot of places.
Interesting to look back at my recovery runs last week.
Tuesday I "ran" 1.7 miles at a 12:40 pace. Some of that I walked.
Thursday I ran 2.2 miles at an 11:47 pace, keeping my heart rate quite low.
Saturday was 3.5 miles at a 10:25 pace, which included stopping to yell at an ankle biter dog.
Feeling just about "normal" again.
Today's trainer sessions was lots of fun. We flipped the tire ten times. Then did twenty push ups with your feet on the tire.
http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/Trai...59_Jf429-L.jpg
Pic is from two years ago - tire is the same. :D
We did a total of six sets of flipping and push ups interspersed with other exercises, including ab roll outs and ab pull ins. I don't really like the pull ins. For some reason my feet end up rolling out an angle by my like my 5th one. I really like roll outs though. :p
The push ups weren't too bad until about the 80th one.
Veronica
Wow!!!!!
Wow indeed! I remember the first time you posted this picture :) Impressive!
We have this tire, and a larger one at our gym. I just beat it up with a large hammer - though I've seen people flipping it like in this picture! I always think of you when I see people working it.
Rev3 Maine was an absolute blast! Thom and I both posted reports and they are on our website.
I was looking through the photos and noticed the Jumbrotron picture in the background of the finish photo Thom's aunt took.
http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/Tria.../IMG3069-L.jpg
They took the picture in the background as part of registration. I thought it was pretty cool.
I was thinking I had only one more race this season, but we've decided to do a mountain bike race as a relay in October.
I've also decided to change my focus a bit for next year and do the Vineman Half Aquabike instead of the HIM. I like running in training, but come race day I suck! :mad: I'll still do sprints and Olympic triathlons. But I'm excited about putting more focus into what I'm good at. I've worked out a training schedule where I can go swim with a Masters group on Saturdays. Yesterday was my first day. It was good, having a coach definitely makes me push myself harder.
Veronica